


Writing On The Wrist

by JaneyKatherineHummingbird



Series: Star Trek Reader Inserts [8]
Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Some angst, Soulmate AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-15
Packaged: 2018-12-02 13:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11510472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaneyKatherineHummingbird/pseuds/JaneyKatherineHummingbird
Summary: The Reader has her soulmate's words appear on her wrist and he doesn't appear too happy about the situation. Can she change his mind about loving again?





	1. Chapter 1

"Looks like someone's cranky today," you sighed, as the writing on your wrist flowed in a stream of invectives. Whoever you soulmate was, he had a very extensive and colorful vocabulary. 

"If you had to deal with James T. Kirk everyday, you'd be cranky too!" Came the writing again. 

You'd started seeing it show up soon after you joined the Enterprise for the five year mission and thus a strange form of drawn out flirting had begun. The man had been very reluctant to even have a soulmate in the first place, so you'd both agreed not to give out personal information until you both were comfortable with the connection. You enjoyed dropping occasional hints every so often to see if he'd pick up on them. 

"Good thing I'm on Gamma shift then. Good night. Computer, lights off." 

You snuggled under your covers with a smile, wondering what he'd do with this new tidbit of information. 

You had heard of the soulmate writing, but yours hadn't shown up for an unusually long time and when it did, it surprised you. 

"Five years in space. God help me,"You saw appearing on your wrist that day the Enterprise leapt into warp to start the five year mission. 

"Don't sound so excited." You said out loud, secretly thrilled at what it signified. 

"Who are you and what is this??" Came the writing. You started and flushed, realizing that your words had been seen in his end.

"Um, I think this means we're soulmates." 

There was nothing for several minutes than a simple "There must be a mistake. I don't do relationships."

Ouch. Well, that wasn't a good sign. 

"Why not?" You said cautiously.

"I'm horrible at them, that's why. The ex took the whole planet in the divorce. There's no way I'm putting myself through that again." 

"So, you're just going to ignore the connection?" You replied, heart sinking. 

"Yes. Don't believe in fate anymore."

"Too bad," you managed. "Sorry for inconveniencing you." 

After that, you pushed your sleeve over your wrist and did your best to utterly ignore any more writing, inwardly crushed over the rejection. You'd waited years for this? 

Much as you wanted to never see the writing again, you couldn't help but watch sometimes to see what the man was like. You figured out that he was definitely alpha shift due to the writing being mostly absent during your shift. 

Judging by the stream of medical jargon, you managed to gather that he was a doctor, a very stressed one most of the time and some days, didn't appear to sleep at all. Also, You couldn't count how many times "Dammit, Jim!" appeared and guessed he was often around the captain. 

"Poor guy" you thought. 

After a few months of this weird avoidance dance, you were eating supper in the mess and poured out your woes to Nyota Uhura, a fellow communications officer that you really admired, but didn't get to see much. 

"So, whoever he is doesn't want anything to do with me and it's really frustrating." You told her. 

"I'm sorry, Y/N. Do you know who he is?"

"No. I promised I wouldn't pry. Being able to see whatever he says feels invasive enough. However, I'm sure he's a doctor and works Alpha shift. Also, he swears a LOT, particularly at the captain."

At these words, Nyota's face lit up and she smiled excitedly. 

"Do you know who it is?" You asked, coming to full alert at her knowing expression.

"I think I do," she grinned. "If it is who I think it is, you've got a very good man as your soulmate. He really is jaded, though, especially when it comes to women. I could put in a good word for you, if you like." 

"Maybe subtly, but it probably won't do any good. He can't stand the thought of me." 

You looked down. "That's not true," appeared suddenly. "I'm just really bad at this." 

"Couldn't hurt to try. Maybe you'll run into him one of these days and he'll see just what he's missing." 

She winked encouragingly at you and you mustered up a smile as she went to rejoin Spock.

"I hope you'll give me a chance one of these days," you said out loud. "You sound like a good guy." 

"And you're way too good for me, but I'll think about it. I'm guessing you're in communications, because half the time, I have no idea what the writing even means."

"You're right, mysterious doctor," you replied. "And when you're ordering your staff around, it's like a foreign language to me, so we're even." 

There was a pause and you wondered if he was laughing and what his laugh sounded like. 

"I admit, I've never been called mysterious before. Kinda like it. I'm usually known for being very transparent in my mannerisms."

You chuckled at that.

"That's very obvious. Good thing the Captain likes you."

"He has a healthy fear of me, too." 

After that "chat", the ice was broken and the two of you consciously took time to talk the times you were going on/getting off shift. You learned that he had a delightful sarcastic sense of humor and a definite Southern drawl that came through when he was in certain moods. 

You were just at the point where you were going to exchange names when you came down with a bug in the middle of your shift and were sent back to your quarters to rest. 

You slept fitfully for awhile, but woke up with horrible nausea and ended up puking your guts out in between bouts of chills and fever. It got to the point where you knew you needed Medbay, but just couldn't get the strength to get there. 

"Help. I'm sick." You croaked out to your wrist, hoping he'd see it and wasn't too busy.

"What's wrong?" appeared seconds later and you breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Fever and chills plus horrible vomiting. Even water won't stay down," you informed weakly, shuddering as a wave of dizziness passed over you. 

"Can you get to Medbay or should I come get you?"

"I think I'm gonna need hauled there. This is really bad." 

You hated admitting this, but you had never been so sick and you were honestly scared. You knew your soulmate would understand.

"Okay. Where are your quarters?" 

You spoke the location as clearly as possible and huddled back under the blankets. Miserable as you were, your pulse quickened with anticipation of finally seeing and hearing your soulmate for the first time. 

It wasn't long before you heard the door chime and spoke the command to open it. 

A tall man in medical blue came in with a hover stretcher and approached your bed with tricorder in hand.

"Lieutenant Y/N, Y/L/N?" He asked you, already looking you up and down with a doctor's eye. You liked that voice right away. It was deep and rich and soothing. 

"I might as well own up to it," you answered, with an attempt at a smile. "No point in secrecy anymore."

"Right," the doctor smiled sheepishly. "I'm Dr. Leonard McCoy, in case you hadn't already figured it out."

You gaped as he began to scan you with the tricorder. 

"Really?" You squeaked. "The Doctor McCoy, famous captain wrangler, genius surgeon and CMO rumored to possess legendary hands?" 

He sighed and shook his head, face flushing a bit.

"You forgot stubborn mule, bitter divorcee and well-known aviophobe," he added, looking at his tricorder. He frowned and pulled out a hypo. 

"You've got the new flu that's going around. Sickbay's been flooded with cases, but yours might require a longer stay. You're pretty dehydrated and that fever is really high. I'm going to give you something for that, then we'll get you to Sickbay, okay?" 

You nodded, not taking your eyes off of him. You wished you had met him under better circumstances, because good heavens he was attractive and you were a complete wreck at the moment. 

The hypo was gently administered and you scooted to the edge of the bed so he could help you onto the stretcher. Strong arms lifted you and you were settled onto it and strapped in neatly. You planned to watch him all the way to Medbay, but your exhausted body had other ideas and you fell asleep mid transit.


	2. Chapter 2

You woke up in Medbay, feeling heavy and achy, but not so feverish anymore. 

"What time is it?" You muttered to yourself. "Gonna miss my shift."

Immediately, letters appeared on your wrist again.

"It's 1400 hours and you aren't going anywhere until I clear you." 

Before you could think of a smart reply, the CMO, your very own recently met soulmate, appeared by your bed. Now that you could see more clearly, he looked even more stunning: tall, broad-shouldered and and very tan for being on a starship. 

"How ya feeling?" He asked, checking the readout on the biobed.

"Not so awful. Thirsty," you managed. 

"You want to try some water? Think it'll stay down?"

"I'll give it a shot," you shrugged and sipped cautiously when he handed you a cup.

"Thanks, Doctor. I was really in a bind."

"Yeah, you were. This strain hits hard and fast and if you'd waited any longer, the fever would have become extremely dangerous."

"Yikes," you shuddered. "Thank goodness I was in good hands--legendary, in fact."

The doctor's face was exasperated, then amused, then slightly smug.

"I should have kept my mouth shut that day. Between Carol and Jim and Nyota spreadin' it around, I'll never hear the end of it." 

"I would imagine that there's some truth to it, though, being a surgeon and all." 

You were definitely on the verge of flirting, but heck, it was your soulmate, after all.

"That's for me to know, and you to find out," he murmured, winking at you. 

Up close, his face was even more interesting and expressive than you'd noticed before. There were lines in his face that told of a somewhat turbulent life, but also dimples that hinted at a fabulous smile. 

You decided that you could have done a whole lot worse when it came to soulmates despite his initial rejection.

"Now that you've met me, do you still feel averse to the idea of soulmates?" You ventured. "Because I've actually really enjoyed "talking" via wrist writing and you're really not the terrible person you claim to be." 

He sighed and looked at you with a weary and somewhat torn expression. 

"Honestly, no, but we're on different shifts, so if we want to hang out, we'll have to get clever." 

"Not a problem," you said, relief filling you. (You weren't sure whether it was him or that you didn't have to puke finally.) 

Leonard thought about you a lot over the next few days and was definitely becoming open to the soulmate thing. He could admit to himself he thought there might be something to the whole destiny thing, given how much he'd come to enjoy your wit on his arm and he did find you very attractive in person, even though you were sick. So he set about to rectify his earlier hasty judgment and get to know his soulmate.

It was harder than he thought, given the mismatched schedules and and the hole he'd dig for himself with his stubbornness, but at last the two of you figured out times to get together. 

He'd even tried to clean up his language a bit so fewer swear words would end up on your body. If Chapel looked at him knowingly when he used a substitute instead of his usual curses, well, who cared? 

Jim came down to see him one day and informed him he was going to be with the landing party for the next away mission. 

"There's some kind of illness spreading down there and I want you there to see if you can help. It's a swampy planet, so wear protective gear."

Leonard sighed. "When do we leave, Jim?"

"In three hours. Meet me on the transporter pad at 1400 hours."

That evening, you were enjoying your off weekend, having earlier traded with another officer. You had finally put the flu behind you and had settled down to watch holovids of crime shows. Halfway through the second episode of "Starfleet Criminal Investigative Services" you began to see some bizarre bits of dialogue coming across your wrist. 

"I told you I don't know anything....."  
"I'm a doctor, not a guerilla....."  
"Don't hurt her....she didn't do anything wrong...."  
"We're trying to help your people.....AAHH!!"  
"Dammit...."

You bolted out of bed and tried his comm. No answer. Fear for him rose the more these ominous fragments appeared and disappeared. Leonard was in trouble, possibly being tortured. You had to find out what was going on. 

Seeing the captain on the bridge, looking like thunder and barking orders right and left, you knew something was definitely wrong. 

"Excuse me, can I talk to the Captain?" You asked the yeoman, who was hustling about. "It's about the away mission."

"Is it important? Because we've lost contact with the away team."

"I guessed that," you said. "I may have some information for him."

He looked at you weirdly, but brought you to the captain. 

"Sorry to other you, Sir," you began, "but I've heard from Doctor McCoy. Something awful is happening down there."

The captain's eyebrows were bushy peaks of skepticism, but he breathed deeply and restrained himself from yelling at you. The stress was really getting to him. 

"How in the world did you get in touch with him?" 

For answer, you pulled up your sleeve, exposing the writing on your wrist, which was coming through in random spurts of curses and pleas. 

"Captain, the doctor and I are linked by a soulmate bond. I can see every word he says. I'm very worried about him right now."

Kirk leaned forward and read some of the writing for himself. He frowned and clenched his fists.

"That's not good. How long has it been like this?"

"Maybe twenty minutes? At first I couldn't make sense of it, but then it became obvious they'd been captured." 

He nodded at you. "Bones, you've been keeping secrets from me," he muttered under his breath. To you he asked "Can you ask him where he is? We're having no luck scanning for them. Spock's being trying to connect with Uhura through their bond, but she seems to be unconscious or shielding heavily." 

This doubled your fear. Nyota had been captured, too. You swallowed through a lump of dread and nodded. 

"I'll try."

Of course, if Leonard was unconscious or had his arms tied behind his back, he wouldn't see it, but you went ahead and spoke.

"Leonard, what's wrong? What happened?" 

Nothing.

"Leonard, are you alive? Can you talk to me?" 

Finally a reply came.

"We've been captured. They're more afraid of us than the plague that's killing them. I'm in a cell in a cave system. Don't know where the others are. They're trying to pump Uhura and I for information."

"Did they hurt you?"

"Nothing I can't handle. I keep hearing screams from the other rooms and it's driving me wild, not being able to get to them."

You and Jim exchanged a worried glance. 

"Tell him to hang in there. We're sending a team down as soon as possible. There's only one cave system big enough to be a prison down there."

You related this and could almost imagine Leonard's nervous twitch at hearing Jim's bold plan. 

"Just be careful. This place is crawling with guards. Tell Jim not to do anything stupid." 

You held up your arm to the captain again. He snorted and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Why does he always think I'm going to do something stupid? If saving his hide takes some stupidity, well, I'll do what it takes and deal with his wrath later. You in?" 

You nodded. 

"Okay then. But first, how's your combat skills?"

"Decent, but I'm good at communications."

"So I've heard. Uhura's said you're one of the best we've got and she wants you moved to Alpha shift."

Your cheeks warmed at such high praise from the best linguist in the Fleet, but the anxiousness about her and Leonard soon returned in full force. 

"How soon do we leave, Sir?" You asked.

"As soon as I get a team together and prepped. That information you got about the cave completely changed the game. Thank you, Lieutenant." 

"It was the bond. Thank goodness for that."

"Yes," Jim smiled. "And I can't wait to get him back here for you. Maybe having a soulmate will make him less grumpy." 

"It didn't at first," you retorted, "but I think he's starting to actually like me." 

"If he didn't, I'd be very disappointed in him."

After a thorough briefing, the away team was beamed down to an area not far from the cave system entrance. The planet was very rocky, with little plant life and strange hulking vulture-like birds swooping and soaring everywhere. Jim had brought Spock and six security officers who immediately began scanning the horizon for signs of life. 

"Nothing within 200 meters, Captain," reported a redshirt. 

"Strange," Jim muttered. "This place was crawling with them before we came down." 

"Maybe they're all inside now," you theorized. Torturing Leonard, probably. 

The fight to get in wasn't as hard as you'd expect. The aliens weren't used to enemies who fought back and scattered with loud shrieks. As you went deeper into the caves, your wrist began to get warm, meaning you were getting closer to Leonard. You stuck close behind Jim, phaser at the ready. The caves were dark and winding and very confusing. You'd stopped at a fork in the road, unsure which direction to take, when Spock spoke up. 

"It is the right fork. Nyota has been advising me."

"She's still alive?" You blurted out. 

"Yes, but time is of the essence. She fears they may kill the doctor." 

"Let's get a move on then," Jim said, stern face not giving away anything he was really feeling. 

After several more turns and scuffles with guards, you found Nyota and nurse Chapel in a cell. Christine appeared to be mostly unharmed, but the lieutenant was definitely worse for wear. One of her arms was tied up in a makeshift sling and there were bruises and cuts all over her face. 

"Hey guys," she said, mustering a smile. "Glad to see you, even you, Captain."

Spock wasted little time in breaking the lock and freeing her, frowning as he looked her over.

"Do you require assistance, Nyota?" He asked.

"I can walk, Spock," she assured him. "It's mostly my arm and side. You should see the other guys." She gave a smug grin that boded ill for the alien captors, but it slipped off quickly when she saw you standing there.

"Y/N! I'm so sorry. They took the doctor away for another "questioning" a few minutes ago. Have you heard from him?"

Your wrist was still warm, but no words had appeared for ten minutes and you guessed Leonard was unconscious. 

"Up until ten minutes ago. We need to find him soon." 

"Right," Jim said grimly. "Point the way, Lieutenants."

You were afraid to ask Chapel what they'd already done to him, the look on her face was so concerned. 

Leonard was trying to catch his breath after another round with the whips, when he felt his wrist grow warm and saw words that gave him hope. 

"Hold on, Leonard. I'm coming." 

He didn't dare say anything, since the guards were still hovering over him, but he felt better and tried to focus on his mental pictures of you to pass the time. 

Presently, there was a zapping noise and both guards hit the floor. 

"Bones!" Jim called. "Are you with us?"

"Yeah," he croaked, lifting his head for the first time in hours. His whole body throbbed and he knew he'd lost a lot of blood from the torture. 

A sharp gasp came from outside and he fixed his eyes on yours, which were filled with tears at the sight of his battered, chained up body. 

"Len!" You gasped. "What did they do to you?"

Jim blasted the lock apart and you rushed to help him and Spock free your soulmate. 

"Not sure you want to know, Darlin'." He whispered, wincing as the chains were pulled away. You saw his back was a mess and there was blood leaking from his mouth. His blue shirt hung in shreds.

"Did they kick you in the mouth or is that from internal bleeding?" You asked. 

"The latter." 

"Hang on for me, babe," you said, "we're getting you out of here."

Spock immediately handed the medkit you'd brought to Chapel, who did what she could to make the trip home less painful for the doctor. 

Despite that, he had completely lost consciousness by the time the team made it back to the Enterprise. 

You sat with Jim outside Medbay while Leonard was undergoing surgery, both of you pacing back and forth anxiously as the hours passed. 

"I'm glad he has you, Y/N," Jim said at last.   
"He would've died if you didn't have that bond with him and figured out what was going on. Thank you. I really don't know what I'd do without him."

"Neither do I, Captain. Neither do I," you sighed, trying to hide the quiver in your voice. "What would we do without his big heart, grumpy overprotectiveness and bad metaphors?"

"I heard that..." came across your wrist suddenly. 

"Are you awake?" 

"Sort of. Feel like I've been fighting a Gorn. I want to see you, Darlin." 

"I'll be down as soon as Dr. M'Benga says it's okay. I love you, Len." You whispered the last sentence, hoping Jim wouldn't hear. He did, but he didn't say a word. 

Len's reply came swiftly. 

"I love you, too, sweetheart." 

Smiling happily and blushing at the last word, you nodded to Jim and left to find your soulmate. You were going to make sure Len's recuperation was as pleasant as possible.


End file.
